Game info display ideas

Open World

Purchased a barren plot on a settler world, Sharecropper - give half of crop to owner of
land, keep the rest, Goal is to earn enough $$$ to purchase own
farm., sell excess crop at county market

Player startes with a barren plot and a minimal
farm buildings

plant things anywhere

success depends on proper environment and
care

crops will spread as they will if conditions are
proper

Player must harvest

each fruit, seed, plant is an
actual in-game object

give player options to create fenced in areas -
or let them grow wild-style

plants could be food, fuel, medicine, housing
even

ship comes once year bringing major supplies /
trading

Background Story

Player is a sharecropper, must raise
money to buy farm and bring family from
home planet

News reports, tv, commericals,
Messages from home as background
story

Home planet is in danger from climate
change, pollution, overpopulation

Goals

Make enough money as
sharecropper to buy your own farm.

make enough money to bring family to planet

Find and Grow more plant varieties

Buy new equipment and supplies

Improve house and land

Game World

Environment is artificial so player
must add all light, water, nutrients, etc

Terraforming Station provides bare
minimum resources like Atmo & water

InstaWorld brand terraform and
farming equipment

Player is on a small asteroid in a
Saturn-style ring of settlers

Gameplay

PLayer given bare minimum tools and supplies
at start, Includes a ForeverPLant in a pot that produces
bare minimum food supply

Bonus stats to player for eating fruits

Catalog of basic supplies and seeds that player
can order from anytime. part of basic housing., All InstaWorld brand - buying from company
store

Traders visit with smaller inventory but wider
variety.

Breeding and Variations

Random variations in plants that player can
encourage by planting harvested fruit

textures, colors, special meshes

some variations worth more at market - like
green dragon stalks or fancy flower

Dominant and recessive texture, dom comes out most of the time, if not Dom then recessive or random

Other effects like particles or glow

Good way to reward and encourage extended
play

Main Project Goals

Player can plant anywhere

Juicy interactions

Each plant is visually unique

Each plant is it's own sim

Player can Save and Load any time

Design for VR and monitor

Research

Beneficial Weeds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneficial_weed

Fertilize, Clover and legumes fixes nitrogen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiU-J2f5ED4, Nitrogen fixing is caused by bacteria that like
the clover, Mix with grass for animal grazing more protein
in clover

Improve soil, Others use deep tap roots to bring up nutrients
and moisture from beyond the range of normal
plants, so that the soil improves in quality over
generations of that plant's presence., Weeds with strong, widespread roots also
introduce organic matter to the earth in the
form of those roots, turning hard, dense clay
dirt into richer, more fertile soil.
In fact, some common plants like tomatoes
and corn will "piggyback" on nearby weeds,
allowing their relatively weak root systems to
go deeper than they could have alone.

Pest Control, Many weeds protect nearby plants from insect
pests., One way they can do this is to repel insects
and other pests through their smell[3], as do
alliums and wormwood., Another is to entirely mask a companion's
scent, or the pheromones of pest insects, as
with ground ivy and wild oregano., Some also are unpleasant to small animals,
because of their spines or other features,
keeping them away from an area to be
protected.

Human Useful, Some beneficial weeds, such as lamb's
quarters and purslane, are edible. This list of
edible flowers includes many wildflowers that
are considered weeds when not planted
intentionally. Dandelion is an excellent
example of an edible weed (see dandelion
wine, dandelion coffee)., A number of weeds have been proposed as
natural alternate sources for latex (rubber),
including goldenrod, from which the tires were
made on the car famously given by Henry Ford,
to Thomas Edison.
Cocklebur and stinging nettle have been used
for natural dyes.
Studies have shown that milkweed is actually a
more effective insulator than goose down., Some plants seem to subtly change the flavor
of other plants around them, in a way humans
find desirable, for example stinging nettle,
besides being edible if properly cooked, seems
to increase essential oil production in nearby
herbs.[4]

List of beneficial weeds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_beneficial_weeds, Clover is a legume. Like other beans, it hosts
bacteria that fix nitrogen in the soil. Its vining
nature covers the ground, sheltering more
moisture than it consumes, providing a humid,
cooler microclimate for surrounding plants as a
"green mulch". It also is preferred by rodents over
many garden crops, cutting down on the amount
of desired vegetables that get eaten., Dandelions possess a deep, strong tap root
that breaks up hard soil, benefiting weaker-rooted
plants nearby, and draw up nutrients
from deeper than shallower-rooted nearby
plants can access. They will also excrete
minerals and nitrogen through their roots.[5], Crow garlic, the wild chives found in sunny
parts of a North American yard, has all of the
companion plant benefits of other alliums,
including repelling japanese beetles, aphids,
and rodents, and being believed to benefit the
flavor of solanums like tomatoes and peppers.
It can be used as a substitute for some alliums
in cooking, if its slightly more bitter flavor is
masked by sweetness or lipids., Bishop's lace (Queen Anne's Lace) works as a
nurse plant for nearby crops like lettuce,
shading them from overly intense sunlight and
keeping more humidity in the air. It attracts
predatory wasps and flies that eat vegetable
pests. It has a scientifically tested[6] beneficial
effect on nearby tomato plants, and when it is
young it has an edible root, both of these are
true because the domesticated carrot is simply
a cultivar of this "weed".

Natural Farming Cocepts

PolyCulture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyculture, Crop Rotation is the practice of growing
a series of dissimilar types of crops in the
same area in sequential seasons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_rotation, Replenishment of nitrogen through the use of
green manure in sequence with cereals and
other crops. Crop rotation also and can also, mitigates the build-up of pathogens and pests
that often occurs when one species is
continuously cropped,, improve soil structure and fertility by alternating
deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants., multiple cropping is the practice of growing two
or more crops in the same space during a single
growing season, .It can take the form of double-cropping, in
which a second crop is planted after the first
has been harvested,, or relay cropping, in which the second crop is
started amidst the first crop before it has been
harvested., Intercropping is the practice of growing two or
more crops in proximity. The most common
goal of intercropping is to produce a greater
yield on a given piece of land by making use of
resources that would otherwise not be utilized
by a single crop. Careful planning is required,
taking into account the soil, climate, crops,
and varieties. It is particularly important not to
have crops competing with each other for
physical space, nutrients, water, or sunlight., Companion planting is the planting of different crops
in proximity (in gardening and agriculture), on the
theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake,
pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary
to increasing crop productivity. Companion planting is
a form of polyculture.
http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/chemung/agriculture/publications/companion-planting.pdf, Forest gardening

Sand/ Silt / Clay / Loam

SANDY SOIL: Sandy (or light) soils are soils in which silt and clay make up less than
20 percent of the material by weight. These soils drain well, but have little capacity
to hold moisture and plant food. Sandy soils have comparatively large particles
that permit good aeration, quick passage of water, and quick warming.
CLAYEY SOIL: A clayey soil must contain at least 30 percent clay and is known as a
heavy soil. Heavy soils have relatively poor drainage and aeration capabilities.
Because of this, heavy soils tend to hold more moisture than is good for plants.
However, this type of soil also holds fertilizer and plant food well, which can be
beneficial to plant growth.
LOAMY SOIL: This is the most desirable soil for agricultural use. Loam is a mixture
of approximately equal parts of sand, silt, and clay. If loamy soil has more sand
than silt or clay, it is known as a sandy loam; more clay, it is known as a clayey loam;
more silt, a silty loam.